Medieval romances so insistently celebrate the triumphs of heroes and the discomfiture of villains that they discourage recognition of just how morally ambiguous, antisocial or even downright sinister their protagonists can be, and, correspondingly, of just how admirable or impressive their defeated opponents often are. This tension between the heroic and the antiheroic makes a major contribution to the dramatic complexity of medieval romance, but it is not an aspect of the genre that has been frequently discussed up until now. Focusing on fourteen distinct characters and character-types in medieval narrative, this book illustrates the range of different ways in which the imaginative power and appeal of romance-texts often depend on contradictions implicit in the very ideal of heroism.
Dr Neil Cartlidge is Lecturer in English at the University of Durham.
Contributors: Neil Cartlidge, Penny Eley, David Ashurst, Meg Lamont, Laura Ashe, Judith Weiss, Gareth Griffith, Kate McClune, Nancy Mason Bradbury, Ad Putter, Robert Rouse, Siobhain Bly Calkin, James Wade, Stephanie Vierick Gibbs Kamath
Details
First Published: 19 Apr 2012
13 Digit ISBN: 9781843843047
Pages: 258
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: D.S.Brewer
Series:
Studies in Medieval RomanceSubject:
Medieval LiteratureBIC Class: DSBB
Details updated on 20 May 2013
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2
- 3 Turnus
- 4 Alexander the Great
- 5 Hengist
- 6 Harold Godwineson
- 7 Mordred
- 8 Merlin
- 9 Gawain
- 10 Gamelyn
- 11 Ralph the Collier
- 12 The Antiheroic Heart
- 13 Crusaders
- 14 Saracens
- 15 Ungallant Knights
- 16 Sons of Devils
